The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old man accused of returning to cocaine trafficking years after serving a prison sentence for drug offences, as operatives uncovered major drug consignments across nine states.
The suspect, Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested during an intelligence-led operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in Ojo, Lagos, on Friday, September 4, 2026.
The NDLEA said the arrest followed the interception of 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine allegedly concealed inside phone chargers at a courier company in Lagos on July 31. The consignment was reportedly being shipped to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to the agency, Ebubechukwu admitted during interrogation that he was involved in previous drug shipments and had discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that the latest consignment had been intercepted.
Investigators also discovered that the suspect had previously been arrested by the NDLEA in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The agency said he was caught after ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin in an attempt to travel to Austria.
He was subsequently prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
The NDLEA alleged that after his release, Ebubechukwu changed his name and returned to illicit drug activities, operating under the cover of a herbal tea business.
A search of his residence in Ejigbo, Lagos, also led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the intercepted cocaine. The agency said the internal components of the chargers had been removed to create compartments for the drugs.
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Drug seizures spread across nine states
The arrest was announced alongside a series of operations in which NDLEA officers seized large quantities of cocaine, cannabis, tramadol, methamphetamine, codeine, rohypnol and other controlled substances across Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states.
At the Lagos airport, officers recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, estimated at more than N1.1 billion, from a 21-carton consignment imported from Pakistan.
The tablets were allegedly concealed among thrift trousers.
The agency also reported the seizure of 57.80kg of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain, concealed in cartons of disposable hand gloves from Singapore. The shipment had reportedly remained unclaimed for weeks before it was examined jointly by NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies on September 3.
In Ondo State, officers intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker along the Akoko-Lokoja Expressway after its driver allegedly refused to stop.
The driver later abandoned the vehicle at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled.
A search of the tanker reportedly uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg. The drugs were allegedly being transported alongside the legitimate fuel cargo to Jos, Plateau State.
At the Tincan Port in Lagos, another 598.08kg consignment of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies was intercepted inside a 40-foot container on September 2.
The NDLEA said the shipment was connected to three suspects earlier arrested over the seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies.
In Adamawa, officers recovered 864,000 opioid pills, mainly tramadol, from a residence linked to a suspect identified as Patrick KC Frank.
The suspect reportedly escaped after his Honda Civic rammed into an NDLEA patrol vehicle.
Another suspected methamphetamine supplier, 35-year-old Calistus Ebubechukwu, was arrested in Michika with 2kg of methamphetamine.
The agency also intercepted a bus at Namtari checkpoint in Mubi carrying tramadol and other opioids concealed among soap products.
Other seizures were recorded in Lagos, Kogi, Taraba, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti and Enugu, with officers recovering cannabis and large quantities of pharmaceutical drugs.
In Enugu, 20-year-old Obinna David was arrested at Ugbema Junction with 40,590 capsules of tramadol.
The NDLEA also destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in Efon-Alaaye forest, Ekiti State, where officers recovered 117kg of already-harvested cannabis.
Marwa commends NDLEA operatives
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved in the operations.
Marwa urged personnel across the country to sustain intelligence-led enforcement while continuing drug prevention and public awareness programmes under the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse initiative.
He said suspected traffickers who attempt to conceal their activities behind legitimate businesses or new identities would continue to face scrutiny.
The latest operations underscore the increasingly creative methods allegedly used by trafficking networks to move illegal drugs, including hiding substances in phone chargers, clothing consignments, shipping containers, cement trucks and fuel tankers.